I have to agree! The travels and getting stuck are much less about the rig, and much more about the driver knowing what his/her rig can and cannot do.
I find it funny when I see guys with expensive “upgrades” to their rigs getting pulled out of a mud bog, simply because they were over confident in the rigs capabilities!
I lived in Colorado Springs back in the early 2000’s. I lived off the corner of Circle and Monterey (El Vacino Apartments). Behind what is now the Spring Creek Shopping mall, was all off road park. There were several rocks to crawl and a huge mud pit. I drove an 89 wrangler as a dad with 2” of lift and bald 31” tires. I would go through the mud hole in 2nd or third gear, no problems at all. My buddy saw me pull into work one day with fresh (still wet) mud on the Jeep and asked where I picked up the mud... so I told him... that night he comes out with a group of friends wanting me to show them the mud.
So my buddy was from Georgia. He was a “Mud Dawg Frum da Sewth”. Can’t tell me how to drive... Riding in a 1999 Chevy Silverado 6” lift, inch body lift, 44’s... ya know the deal.
Any ways I tell my buddy that the whole drops off about 10’ in and to get a little wheel speed up before he actually enters the deep part of the pit. What does my buddy do... idles in until his front tires drop into the whole... his truck sank like a Chevy. All the way to the frame... he was stuck... we spent 6 hours trying to pull him out... but ended up calling a tow truck (which also got stuck on the grass).
My buddies never did make it through that hole... All of them “Heavily “ modified... and here I am an almost stock YJ with out a rear drive shaft hit the whole 2 to 3 times a day... with bald tires none the less.